The town is in the running for $7,500 in grant money that would go toward the purchase of an all-electric vehicle and a charging station.

“We have put in an application with the state,” Town Administrator Jack Healey said on Monday.

The $2.5 million grant program is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and is intended to encourage increased use of electric vehicles, improve air quality and help Massachusetts cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

The new program offers cities and towns grants up to $7,500 per electric vehicle and up to $15,000 per publicly accessible electrical charging station.

“Electric vehicles represent the future of our world’s transportation. I am pleased that this program will help provide incentives to spur growth in this burgeoning industry,” said state Sen. Marc Pacheco, chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.

The program is funded by a $50 million surplus in vehicle inspection fees.

Westport applied for $5,000 toward the cost of an all-electric vehicle and an additional $2,500 toward the purchase of a charging station.

Healey said the town should know if its application is successful by the end of August.

“After that, we’d have a year to get approval from Town Meeting,” Healey said.

The approval would be needed to buy the vehicle and to provide funding beyond the state grants, which provide only a portion of the purchase price.

Healey said the town already has plans for the new vehicle.

“The building inspector would use the vehicle during the day,” Healey said. “At night, it would be charging.”

Healey said the building inspector is reimbursed about 56 cents per mile for driving related to his job. The building inspector uses his personal vehicle for work purposes.